The Open Group Extends Global Reach with Establishment of The Open Group Sweden

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Seventh International Branch to Focus on Membership and Standards Promotion

SAN FRANCISCO, September 13, 2010 – The Open Group today announced that it has signed an agreement with Biner AB, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based consultancy specializing in business transformation through change management and enterprise architecture, to represent The Open Group in Sweden. The Open Group Sweden is the seventh international branch formed on behalf of The Open Group worldwide, with other global offices located in Arabia, China, France, India, Japan and South Africa. This is also the second new international Open Group office established this year. The Open Group’s dual headquarters are based in Reading, UK and San Francisco, Calif.

The Open Group Sweden will provide localized access throughout the country to IT specialists and enterprise architects seeking information on industry standards and certification programs in the fields of information security, enterprise architecture and cloud computing. The Open Group Sweden will be primarily tasked with expanding memberships for the organization throughout the region, as well as growing awareness of the disciplines of enterprise and secure architectures and the interoperability between IT and business with local companies.

“We look forward to representing The Open Group in Sweden and to growing the organization’s memberships locally,” said Lars Lundgren, CEO, Biner Consulting. “The synergies between The Open Group’s mission of Boundaryless Information Flow™ and our focus on business driven IT have been readily apparent throughout our partnership thus far, and we’re happy that we can bring that perspective to Swedish companies through this partnership.”

“Biner Consulting has been a very active and productive member of The Open Group since they joined in 2009, and we are very pleased to have them officially representing the organization in Sweden,” said Allen Brown, president and CEO for The Open Group. “The Open Group Sweden will help ensure that enterprise architects and IT security professionals, along with their employers, have access to localized information about proven industry standards and facilitate innovation and tighter alignment between business and IT.”

In addition to operating The Open Group Sweden, Biner AB will also continue to provide separate training and certification courses throughout the Nordic region under the Biner brand. Biner has been an active TOGAF™ trainer throughout Scandinavia, having educated more than 250 enterprise architects on the standard across Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Upcoming Stockholm Enterprise Architecture Conference
In addition to its membership-related activities, The Open Group Sweden will also be hosting the first Enterprise Architecture Conference to be held in the Scandinavian region from November 30 through December 1, 2010. The Enterprise Architecture Conference Stockholm will be held at the Stockholm Sheraton Hotel and will address the topic “Business Transformation through Enterprise Architecture.” For more details on the conference, please visit: http://www.opengroup.org/stockholm2010/.

About Biner AB
Biner is a consultancy and a training provider that specializes in business transformation through Change Management and Enterprise Architecture. The company was started in 2000 and today has around 25 consultants based in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The name Biner comes from the word carabiner and symbolizes the connection between the business and IT. Biner has an approach of teamwork between business development and developing effective and supporting IT systems.
Biner’s consultants use well known international methods, techniques and standards in their work with Change Management and Enterprise Architecture. Biner has been working in this branch of the industry for over 10 years, which allows us to draw on a depth of experience within the company. For more information, please visit: http://www.biner.se.

About The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, which drives the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow™ that will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry’s premier certification service. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org.

Note to Editors

: Boundaryless Information Flow is a trademark of The Open Group. All other company, brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.